Finally, Miss Piggy gets the feminist recognition she deserves.

Last week, Brooklyn’s Sackler Center for Feminist Art recognized the one and only Miss Piggy with an award that honors “extraordinary women who are first in their fields.” Longtime feminist Gloria Steinem presented the award to Miss Piggy. Previous winners include Toni Morrison, Connie Chung, Sandra Day O’Connor and Anita Hill.

“She has inspired children to be who you are and this squares very directly with feminism,” Elizabeth Sackler, the center’s founder said about Miss Piggy to USA Today.

Of course, everyone’s favorite Muppet(ess?) has never been humble about her feminist ways—always chasing Kermit and not being shy about her wants or needs, and using any means to achieve her goals. In a recent Time magazine interview (“Why I am a Feminist Pig”), she discussed a number of topics around her feminism, such as why she never burned her bra: “When one pays top dollar for intimate apparel like moi does, setting it ablaze is wasteful, improvident and highly incendiary.”

“I believe that any woman who refuses to accept society’s preconceived notions of who or what they can be is a feminist,” she said. “I believe any woman who is willing to struggle, strive—and if necessary learn karate—to make their mark in the world is a feminist. And, yes, I believe that any woman, who cares about her appearance, her star billing and most especially her percentage of the gross, is a feminist. Moi is all of these things.”

For as many fans as Miss Piggy has, there are critics as well—and to that, she had this to say:

“Another reason some refuse to consider moi a feminist is that I do not fit the popular image of a feminist. It’s true, I did not march in women’s-rights parades down Fifth Avenue in the early 1970s. (That was long before I was born.) However, today, in solidarity with my feminist foremothers, I go shopping on Fifth Avenue whenever possible… And yes, it is true that I am a Porcine American. How can a… ahem, pig… be a feminist? After all, the p word has long been associated with the very antithesis of feminists ‘male chauvinist.’

This, alas, is a vestige of latent ‘species-ism.’ Sure, there are male chauvinist pigs, but there are also male chauvinist humans and, on very rare occasions and at their own peril, male chauvinist amphibians. Let us not besmirch an entire species because of the sins of a few.”

And her final thoughts:

“Yet one last question remains: What is the future of feminism? The answer is obvious — feminism’s future must be proud, positive, powerful, perseverant, and, wherever possible, alliterative. It must believe in itself, share its triumphs, overcome its setbacks and inspire future generations. I must, in other words, be a lot like… moi.”

Miss Piggy, you’re the epitome of the perfect woman in our book! Feminine, feminist, foamy and always fun to watch. Congratulations.

Find Jill on Twitter and Instagram

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Column Until we remove the stigma around feminism and stop creating barriers between each other, we’re not going to achieve equality, no matter how far in we may lean.

The first act of feminism I witnessed was mortifying. I was at my Brownie Fly-Up ceremony, the celebration of our troop graduating from Brownies to Girl Scouts. There we were. On stage. And the leaders of all of the local troops were supposed to sing us a song before we walked the ceremonial bridge over a mirror, which is actually a little creepy when you think about it, to become Girl Scouts. I watched in horror as our leaders—one of whom was my own mother—stood silently staring into the crowd. Not singing.

Suddenly, Troop 310 was walking the plank. I glared at my mom and asked why she had done that to me. She replied, “Did you listen to the words of the song?” I had not.

It was a cheery rhyming number, the gist of which was that while we failed at everything from tent-pitching to sports, they were letting us graduate anyway. I looked for this song in the official Girl Scout songbook and came up empty. It was probably a local specialty.

At the time, I cared very little about the words and just wanted my mom to have sung and shut up about it. On the way home, we had a long talk about what it would have meant. I lived in a house where Ms. Magazine sat comfortably on the table with an assortment of novels, the New Yorker and newspapers. I distinctly remember an intimidatingly heavy-looking book called Backlash on the table for a while. When my mom explained why the song was wrong, I got it. I was still pissed because, at eight, being embarrassed is about the worst thing possible. But I got it: As a feminist, you don’t belittle yourself and your friends. This is a lesson I have had to relearn many, many times.

And it’s a lesson that seems to be getting lost with this new generation of feminism. This wave (I forget how many waves we’ve had at this point) started last year with Anne-Marie Slaughter’s article in The Atlantic: Why Women Still Can’t Have It All. Talk about backlash.

Cut to today. Marissa Mayer doesn’t identify as a feminist and is, I think, just trying to do her job. But she has been repeatedly criticized for not being a role model for real women, especially the working kind. Then we have Sheryl Sandberg a self-defined feminist starting a deliberate movement.

The criticism of Sandberg has been severe. She doesn’t understand real women. She’s judging us for not working hard enough. She doesn’t get what it takes to make it when you’re not the COO of Facebook (though I would argue that getting to that point in her own career means that she most certainly does get it). We’re picking her apart.

These new voices in mainstream conversations about feminism have a lot in common, which they talk openly about: they are wealthy, straight, attractive, white women. This is the same problem Gloria Steinem faced in the ’70s. Despite the progress Steinem made, she was accused of not understanding the plight of everyone else, of creating an elitist, exclusive movement dedicated to the advancement of a few. Sounds a lot like what people are saying about Sandberg’s book and social campaign, Lean In. Have we not progressed at all?

Once again, we are undermining ourselves because we don’t see ourselves directly reflected in Sandberg’s mirror. But, while our finances might look different, Sandberg argues that we all face the same struggle. In her recent 60 Minutes interview, she says that as women we all learned to downplay our accomplishments from a young age (hell, some of us were even encouraged to celebrate our alleged failures in song). Girls who displayed leadership skills were deemed bossy; as we get older bossy becomes bitchy. She notes that women hold themselves back to avoid these negative stereotypes. While we hold ourselves back, we also take down those women who don’t.

Sandberg is not saying, “Lean in and be me,” but she only has her own life experience to draw from. She’s saying, lean into your own life and ask for whatever it is that you want or need. And yes, it will be easier for women with supportive partners and good jobs. The best response, I think, to her advice about work is Jody Greenstone Miller’s piece in the Wall Street Journal: It’s about changing the structure of the American workday so that all people—parents and singles alike—can have a fulfilling life outside of work. Figure out a way to let people who don’t have Sandberg’s advantages leave work at 5:30, too.

There are many women (and men) just struggling to get by who might look at all of this and say, this isn’t about me. But it is. Feminism has long been about giving a voice to those who are silenced, and Sandberg has the stage. She acknowledges her status and said during the 60 Minutes interview, “Yes, it’s easier for me to say this, and that’s why I am saying it.”

It’s time we stop shooting the messenger and listen to her message. It’s time to stop saying, “I’m not a feminist, but of course I believe I deserve to have a place at whatever table I’m sitting at. I’m not a feminist, but I should be paid as much as my male counterpart. I’m not a feminist, but I think women are equal to men.” It’s long-past time to remove the stigma around feminism, stop creating barriers between each other, and get down to the real conversations about equality at work and at home. As long as we separate ourselves because of a word, we’re not going to achieve equality no matter how far in we may lean.

Image: Lean In

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QuotesDaily quotes at EcoSalon.

“The future depends entirely on what each of us does every day; a movement is only people moving.”
-Gloria Steinem

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We call each other “lady,” but that rankles some. Some people find “gal” offensive while others are bothered by “girl.” “Chick” means fluffy little creatures meant for cuddling and light thinking. Or does it? What do women call each other these days? More to the point, what’s offensive and what’s not?

When feminists were making their mark in the 1970s, “chick” and other terms were considered insulting. For chick in particular, many felt the term sought to infantilize women. Consequently, a generation of women threw off the term as a marker of patriarchal oppression. Now, chick is a common tag amongst third wave feminists who embrace the term as an endearment. Repossessing a word that was initially meant to demean has become a mark of empowerment and even sisterhood.

Still, not everyone agrees. So where has this left us? For some, walking a minefield of linguistics while waiting for a bomb to detonate without warning. And yes, don’t women have bigger fish to fry than worry about what people call them? What about the Great Recession, reproductive rights, climate change, or Madonna’s impossibly high bar of fitness for the age 50 and over crowd? Some might argue that we just need to get over ourselves. After all, sticks and stones – it’s just words, right?

Perhaps. But at the same time, to argue that words are nonchalant ignores the very power of language. Just a brief look at “chick” brings up an interesting historical narrative. First, it’s now become an adjective as much as it is a noun. But are you praising or insulting a book when you call it “chick lit?” In the 19th century, women like Fanny Fern, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Maria Susanna Cummins led in sales, enough so that Nathaniel Hawthorne famously remarked “America is now wholly given over to a d-d mob of scribbling women”.

When I just threw a Google on this subject, I found a site referring to Fern and others as “chick lit writer babes.” Was Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, really a “chick lit writer babe?” And what is the intention of calling her that – is she being praised or demeaned? Sometimes, it isn’t clear. And this is where people get into trouble.

And WWGSD do? (And that would be, yes, What Would Gloria Steinem Do?) She vetoes chick here. But I have many feminist friends who use the term with aplomb, and I never flinch to hear it from them. Why? Because I know their intention. And yet, I don’t think there’s a definitive line to draw in the sand over who should say what. But I do strongly respect a person’s right to care. And because of that, I stick to “lady.” Or “girl.” Or even “man.” Who am I offending with that? I’m sure someone will let me know soon enough.

What do other think about this? We asked these women and one man of words how they felt.

Starre Vartan, author of The Eco-Chick Guide to Life
So, regarding chick, I have been asked about this before. (Actually, I was accosted by a woman at a panel discussion, an old feminist who was so angry I used chick.) To me, using words that were previously considered insulting or demeaning to women, and using them to name ourselves takes their negative power away. I hope that by using the word “chick” for a blog about women’s green interest topics, we are giving it new life, and changing the definition over time. This has worked for other words, like fag, and I think it can work for feminist words too.

Gretchen Jones, Winner of Project Runway Season 8, Designer of Mothlove
I suppose I think this question is a ridiculous question in itself!? I think being bothered by such casual [and trivial] titles plays into the satirical element of being “PC.” Being offended by such terminology to me is a waste of time. We are all and any of these at any given time. Embrace them, accept them as nonchalant – and let go.

Julie Gabriel, author of The Green Beauty Guide
Girl, gal, chick are most depressive and diminishing. I’d rather hear “ma’am” or “ladies”. Why do you really need address your readers based on their gender? It makes as much sense as writing one article for women and one for men. Or making one bus entrance for Caucasians and another one for non-whites. What do women call each other here in England? “Luv” and “gorgeous,” and between very close friends it’s “princess” and well, luv. But mostly by name.

Robin Epstein, author of God Is in the Pancakes
I’m not really the take offense to language type, so I’m okay with being called anything except “spinster.” (I prefer “lady in waiting” to describe my state of matrimony or lack thereof.) I’ll also use any of those terms to describe women, though I rarely use “girlfriend” since it sounds dated and I don’t want people thinking I’m a spinster because I’m stuck in the 1995.

Anna Brones, Contributing Writer, EcoSalon
All my 20-something, independent, no-frills, upfront female friends call each other lady. Preferably said “hey layydee!” Although if anyone of the male gender ever said it to us, it would probably be returned with a raise of the eyebrows and a mental note to judge said man over ladies coffee later in the week.

Brian Clark Howard, author and journalist
The truth is that I often call women “chicks” when talking among my guy friends but I try not to use it in front of women because I have gotten bad reactions. When in front of women, I usually say woman or women unless they are obviously quite young, then it is girl. I try to find out what each person prefers.

Kim Derby, Contributing Writer, EcoSalon
These days I think we’re lucky to be called anything at all, with people texting and IMing so much and not even using names when they talk to people. So I’m not offended when called chick or gal or girl or lady. Just don’t call me “ma’am.” All kidding aside, life is too short to get upset about stuff like this. The word someone uses says more about THEM than it does about me anyway.

Anna Getty, author of Anna Getty’s Easy, Green Organic
Call me anything but don’t call me dude.

Image: samdogs

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